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United takeover fails – Elland Road is soldRichard Sutcliffe
LEEDS UNITED chairman Gerald Krasner last night closed the door on Sebastien Sainsbury's planned £25m takeover as Elland Road was sold for the second time in less than 20 years.
United have agreed a 25-year sale and leaseback deal for their stadium and cleared the way for a possible substantial investment from a second consortium led by Leeds businessman Norman Stubbs.
Even to a group of fans who have become used to the unexpected, yesterday was an amazing day. The passing of a 1pm deadline for the British-American consortium to complete a takeover was followed by a press conference in which Krasner confirmed Elland Road was in the process of being sold to clear the debt of £9.2m owed to Jack Petchey.
Two hours later and with the sale sealed, Sainsbury and his American-backed consortium insisted their proposed takeover was still on. However, Krasner quickly countered: "We can categorically reiterate no further extensions have been negotiated with the American consortium. The club cannot go on with this uncertainty with a group that simply do not appear to have the cash to invest."
The 25-year sale and leaseback deal for Elland Road is believed to be worth around £10m and contains a buy-back provision for when the club's finances improve. Krasner said: "As a result of the sale and leaseback, Mr Petchey and his company will no longer have any involvement by way of loans and we will avoid any further interest payments.
Asked if any of the current board were involved in the unnamed company who have bought Elland Road, Krasner replied: "It is to a non-associated party. None of the directors have any interest in it."
The United chairman is confident a deal can be concluded with Stubbs's consortium. He said: "They are local businessmen who are Leeds United fans. To me, they will always put the well-being of the club before final financial profit. We said in the beginning that our consortium had limited resources – some have had to sell and pledge their assets.
"There is no more money in our consortium to put in, which is why we are quite prepared to bring in other businessmen on a similar basis. What I am telling the fans is that the local people I am speaking to are men of substance.
"They are putting together a sum of money that will be sufficient, not only to consolidate but to move the club on."
Sainsbury insists he wants to revive the deal but Krasner said: "Where was their money? How many consortiums do you think I have spoken to? I am up to 14 now. We are waiting to see a chequebook to come out from one of them.
"There was enough possibility that we had to give them time. If we had called it off a month ago, done another deal and sold the ground, and then an hour later they produce a cheque for £25m we would have quite rightly been slated."
Krasner On Leeds
GERALD KRASNER last night defended his board's record since they took control of Elland Road eight months ago.
And he told the Yorkshire Post why the club had opted to agree to the sale of the stadium.
"The sale is to get the debts down. Instead of being more than £30m, the debt will be well under £25m. That is from a starting point of £104m when we took over.
"Without this board there would be no Leeds United today. Despite reports saying we have made a mess of it, believe me we haven't. We have kept this club afloat and we are now consolidating.
"There was no money to pay the players when we came and we had to make the back payments as well. If we had not paid them, the players would have been entitled to walk away. There would have been no fee for Alan Smith and no fee for Mark Viduka.
"If Leeds United had gone into administration and a property developer had come along and offered more than a football developer for the ground, where would Leeds United be playing now? Where would the Academy be now?
"As repeatedly stated in the past, football remains at Elland Road. We have ensured that we have the option to not only use the ground in the long term, but to purchase back the ground when the opportunity arises."
United takeover fails – Elland Road is soldRichard Sutcliffe
LEEDS UNITED chairman Gerald Krasner last night closed the door on Sebastien Sainsbury's planned £25m takeover as Elland Road was sold for the second time in less than 20 years.
United have agreed a 25-year sale and leaseback deal for their stadium and cleared the way for a possible substantial investment from a second consortium led by Leeds businessman Norman Stubbs.
Even to a group of fans who have become used to the unexpected, yesterday was an amazing day. The passing of a 1pm deadline for the British-American consortium to complete a takeover was followed by a press conference in which Krasner confirmed Elland Road was in the process of being sold to clear the debt of £9.2m owed to Jack Petchey.
Two hours later and with the sale sealed, Sainsbury and his American-backed consortium insisted their proposed takeover was still on. However, Krasner quickly countered: "We can categorically reiterate no further extensions have been negotiated with the American consortium. The club cannot go on with this uncertainty with a group that simply do not appear to have the cash to invest."
The 25-year sale and leaseback deal for Elland Road is believed to be worth around £10m and contains a buy-back provision for when the club's finances improve. Krasner said: "As a result of the sale and leaseback, Mr Petchey and his company will no longer have any involvement by way of loans and we will avoid any further interest payments.
Asked if any of the current board were involved in the unnamed company who have bought Elland Road, Krasner replied: "It is to a non-associated party. None of the directors have any interest in it."
The United chairman is confident a deal can be concluded with Stubbs's consortium. He said: "They are local businessmen who are Leeds United fans. To me, they will always put the well-being of the club before final financial profit. We said in the beginning that our consortium had limited resources – some have had to sell and pledge their assets.
"There is no more money in our consortium to put in, which is why we are quite prepared to bring in other businessmen on a similar basis. What I am telling the fans is that the local people I am speaking to are men of substance.
"They are putting together a sum of money that will be sufficient, not only to consolidate but to move the club on."
Sainsbury insists he wants to revive the deal but Krasner said: "Where was their money? How many consortiums do you think I have spoken to? I am up to 14 now. We are waiting to see a chequebook to come out from one of them.
"There was enough possibility that we had to give them time. If we had called it off a month ago, done another deal and sold the ground, and then an hour later they produce a cheque for £25m we would have quite rightly been slated."
Krasner On Leeds
GERALD KRASNER last night defended his board's record since they took control of Elland Road eight months ago.
And he told the Yorkshire Post why the club had opted to agree to the sale of the stadium.
"The sale is to get the debts down. Instead of being more than £30m, the debt will be well under £25m. That is from a starting point of £104m when we took over.
"Without this board there would be no Leeds United today. Despite reports saying we have made a mess of it, believe me we haven't. We have kept this club afloat and we are now consolidating.
"There was no money to pay the players when we came and we had to make the back payments as well. If we had not paid them, the players would have been entitled to walk away. There would have been no fee for Alan Smith and no fee for Mark Viduka.
"If Leeds United had gone into administration and a property developer had come along and offered more than a football developer for the ground, where would Leeds United be playing now? Where would the Academy be now?
"As repeatedly stated in the past, football remains at Elland Road. We have ensured that we have the option to not only use the ground in the long term, but to purchase back the ground when the opportunity arises."
